Heroes and Enemies
by Lady Rheena
Summary: First of the Antecedent series. AU. The Doctor and Rose meet a time traveller from the far future. The next thing they know, they're elbowdeep in a mystery that has lasted billions of years...is the Doctor really dead? And why is there a second TARDIS?
1. Part 1

Title: Heroes and Enemies

Author: Lady Rheena

Rating: T (some violence and non-kiddie friendly stuff)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Evidently. No money. Don't sue. Please.

Notes: I am primarily a TNS Who fan and won't try to convince anyone otherwise. Any muff-ups I therefore make with TOS continuity can just be considered part of the AU definition. The Antecedent Series was written midway through TNS season two, and begins just after the events of _Tooth and Claw_.

**Heroes and Enemies**

**Part 1**

'So we're exiles now, eh?'

'Yup.'

'Can't go anywhere in the British Empire, ever again.'

'Yup.'

'I s'pose that technically means I can't go home.'

'Yup.'

'Of course…pouring yoghurt on top might help.'

'Yup. _Eh_?'

Rose burst out laughing.

'You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you?'

'I heard the bit about the yoghurt,' the Doctor said, turning defensive. 'Where does yoghurt come into it?'

'Never mind. Least it got your attention. You were miles away!'

'I was thinking!'

'You can't think and listen at the same time? Typical bloke…'

They continued to bicker pointlessly back and forth as they climbed up to the hill where the TARDIS was parked. Rose considered bringing up the aborted Sheffield concert trip, but decided against it. If on any given day the TARDIS decided it didn't want to go somewhere in particular then that was it and no amount of fiddling, shouting, kicking or hitting it with blunt instruments would change that. The Doctor had tried just about every approach with it when it felt stubborn, but the TARDIS always won.

'So, where to next?' he asked as they went in. 'Past, present, future, here, there, where?'

'Future,' Rose said, having an answer all ready. 'You mentioned anti-gravity Olympics?'

'Oh, yeah, 2250! _Fantastic_ year! Britain didn't win anything though.'

'Well we can go and cheer the team on anyway, right?'

'Absolutely!'

'Right.' Rose glanced down at herself and giggled. 'Only I'm going to change into something else. Don't want to be mistaken for _naked_ again.'

'Oh, I don't know, found that pretty funny actually…' his voice was drowned out by the chorus of clanks, bongs, whizzes and pops that seemed to be part and parcel of any operation of the TARDIS's control mechanism. Rose left him to it and navigated her way carefully back to the little cabin she'd appropriated. She suspected it was only one of dozens of such compartments but having found it so close to the control room she didn't want to go looking for another. The Doctor had warned her not to go wandering off into the TARDIS's labyrinthine depths. Even _he_ didn't know what was behind every door. They had gone exploring once, for a laugh, with one end of a ball of string tied to a railing near the front door to be safe, but the only thing they'd found other than a lot of corridor was a room stacked floor to ceiling with silver milk bottle tops. The Doctor had opened the door, taken a long look at its contents, nodded gravely and then shut the door again. It still made Rose titter to think of his expression but she'd declined to comment. For all she knew a room of milk bottle tops was essential to the operation of a TARDIS. But the cabin was convenient, if small. All it contained was a battered old wooden wardrobe (which smelt, against all probability, of mothballs. She hadn't gone too far inside in case it led to the magical land of Narnia…you never knew, with the Doctor) and a surprisingly comfortable hammock. It wasn't as though she spent much time in there except for sleeping. She still didn't know where the Doctor slept, or indeed _if_ he slept except when knocked unconscious or recovering from a regeneration cycle. It wasn't the sort of thing she wanted to ask. He'd only have given her one of those cross-eyed looks and changed the subject anyway.

Changing into a more serviceable pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Rose jogged quickly back to the control room just as a loud _thud_ and slight rocking sensation heralded the TARDIS's arrival in- if all had gone according to plan- the year 2250. The Doctor was actually _under_ the console for some reason, only his legs visible. She watched with a little concern as some sparks fell down, then there was a high-pitched _pop_ noise. He wriggled out from underneath and brandished something that looked uncannily like an orange yo-yo.

'_Ha_! Got you! Nasty little blighter.'

'What _is_ that?'

'Flux inversion capacitor. Broken. I'll fix it during the shot-put. Anti-gravity shot-put's _boring_. Defeats the whole object of the exercise, in my opinion.' He pocketed the yo-yo or whatever it was and strode across to fling on his coat, as always thrown carelessly over a balustrade any old how. Rose sighed. The Doctor might be a mysterious alien and a Lord of Time and much else besides but he was still every inch a typical bachelor when it came to tidying up.

'Do we need tickets?'

'Psychic paper! It'll even fool the electronic readers, don't worry. Should get there just in time for the opening ceremony with any luck.' Then he was off for the door and she had to run to keep up with him. However as it fell closed behind her she nearly walked straight into his back, because he'd stopped short just in front of her.

'What?'

'Hello hello hello…what have we here?'

Rose extricated herself from where she was pressed between Time Lord and TARDIS and then frowned. There was a…well, a machine of some kind, presumably, sitting not ten feet away. It was a perfect cube, a dull brown colour all over, with no visible apertures or openings, about the size of a transit van.

'What is that?'

'I have no idea,' the Doctor said, putting on his glasses to peer at the object.

'You don't?' That worried Rose. In her experience if the Doctor didn't recognise something that usually spelt trouble.

'Nope. Not a clue.' He took out the sonic screwdriver and made a few passes. 'Hmm. Taradinium alloy. Nice hull. And a _lot_ of power. A _lot_ lot of power. But no engines. It's hollow though. I think it might be a ship of some kind.'

'A spaceship?'

'Oh, not just that.' Laying his ear against the nearest side, he squinted as if listening intently. 'A timeship. That's weird.' A frown. 'I honest to goodness do _not_ recognise the design. And there's few enough species have ever built timeships of any description. Could be a freelancer, I s'pose, but…'

'Like Captain Jack?' That both pleased and reassured Rose.

'Possibly, possibly.' The Doctor replaced both glasses and screwdriver in his coat and regarded the block for a moment more. 'Well, one way to find out.' He reached out and rapped smartly on the exterior of the box.

'Is that a good idea?' Rose asked, nervous again.

'Well in the absence of a doorbell…' he kicked idly at a stone for a minute or two, hands in his pockets, and then sighed. 'Nobody in. Well, it's not like it's really _doing_ anything. Come on or we'll miss the flag parades.' And he started to walk off.

'Hang on-' Rose scurried after him '-you're just going to _leave_ it?'

'Doesn't seem to be doing any harm. Just a random box. Could be one of those funny scenic enhancements your lot are always thinking up '

'But- but you said you don't recognise it-'

'Definitely not.' The Doctor stopped and frowned, glancing back. 'Funny though, I can't shake the feeling it's definitely _not_ dangerous…oh, hang on!' As he spoke a door had opened in the side he'd knocked on. 'That's more like it! Mysterious invisible doors! Now _this_ is right up my street!'

A face popped out from behind the door. It was a _nice_ face, Rose rationalised, perfectly human-looking and unremarkable. Brown hair in a chin-length bob. Brown eyes. Freckles.

'Hallo!' The Doctor waved cheerfully. 'Nice day for it!'

Slowly, the body associated with the face emerged. Again it was a reasonably normal-looking human body, the right number of arms and legs connected by the usual arrangements. It was wearing all black with a maroon overjacket. Boots that looked like Army issue. About the same age and height as Rose, but a lot skinnier.

'Hello,' the Doctor said again with a broad grin. 'Don't worry, we're not dangerous. I'm-'

'-the _Doctor_-'

'-and this is-'

'-_Rose Tyler_-'

'-and you seem to have us at an unfair advantage.' He blinked. 'That was surreal. All right then, how do you know who we are? Sorry, I don't normally start with the demanding questions this early on but you've thrown me all off-track.'

Rose realised the girl was gaping at them even as she replied.

'But I…uh…_everyone_ knows who you are!'

'They do?' the Doctor echoed quizzically. 'Everyone?'

'Oh, _yes_! Everyone where I'm from!'

'Which is where, exactly?'

'The year seventeen billion, six hundred and ninety-four thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three. Traveller's Institute. I'm new,' she added with a brief blush. 'Only graduated a few months ago.'

'Seventeen _billion_-' Rose began.

'And you're human,' the Doctor said, cutting her off. 'Absolutely, totally human. As human as you, Rose. _Weird_.'

'Well technically I'm a Type Four bipedal human derivative,' the girl corrected. 'But we're the most common now. In my time, I mean. Mutations and alternate evolutionary structures are still about though, and-' she grinned in a knowing manner and wagged one finger '-I'm no Cassandra!'

'You know about Cassandra?' the Doctor said curiously.

'Oh yes.' Another blush, more obvious. 'And Jabe, and the Face of Boe, and…well, most of your encounters really.'

'_Oh_?'

'Well, really-' this time she coloured a deep beetroot colour '-I wrote my graduating thesis on you.'

The Doctor stared at her.

'Your _graduating thesis_?'

'From the Traveller's Guild Academy at the Institute. They don't let just anyone become a Traveller, you have to go through all these examinations and tests just to make the Academy, and only the top two percent or something pass. One of the graduating criteria is an analytical study of a preceding Traveller and…well, I did you. Not many do,' she added, 'I mean, there's just so _much_…but I wanted to, and my assessor said my paper was probably the most comprehensive and insightful analysis of you that he'd ever read, although he did think some of my theories were a little far-fetched…sorry, I'm babbling like an idiot.' She rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. 'I just can't believe I'm standing here talking to _the Doctor_ and _Rose Tyler_ for real-'

'So we're, like, celebrities?' Rose asked, unable to help feeling rather flattered.

'Celebrities? More like _legends_…I mean…' the girl spread her arms helplessly '…the _Doctor_ and _Rose Tyler_! It's like…like Batman and Robin or Superman and Lois Lane or- or maybe some famous pairing that's a lot less fictional…'

'I didn't catch _your_ name,' the Doctor said pointedly, apparently choosing to ignore that little spiel.

'Oh. Right. Sorry. Freyja. Just Freyja.'

'Freyja, eh? Sounds vaguely Scandinavian. Although of course Scandinavia would be long gone by your time…' he thrust his hands into his coat pockets and regarded her for a moment.

'So…what did you get?' Rose hazarded, intrigue drawing her on.

'For what?' Freyja asked.

'For your thesis…thing.'

'Oh.' Another blush. 'I came top of the class.'

'Wowee!' Rose nudged the Doctor. 'Top of the class, eh? Because of _us_!'

'Yeah…' he seemed distracted. 'What are you doing here, Freyja?'

'Just a standard info-cording mission. First anti-gravity Olympics and all…' suddenly she seemed to give into something and did a little funny dance for a moment '…I _knew_ it! I _knew_ you weren't dead! I knew, I knew, I _knew_ you couldn't be-'

'Dead?' the Doctor echoed with understandable bewilderment. 'When was I dead?' He thought about it for a moment. 'That statement was either very profound or totally, _totally_ wrong…'

'But you disappeared!' Freyja said. 'You…you vanished. You took Rose home one day and then you just disappeared. There are all sorts of stories surrounding it…myths and theories…'

'Whoa, back up-' the Doctor held up a hand '-I took Rose home one day and then _disappeared_? Don't you mean just…_left_?'

'Yeah, 'cos he's got previous for that,' Rose said dryly.

'No, not left. _Disappeared_.'

'Well he does that all the time! The TARDIS-'

'No, that's just it,' Freyja said. 'Without the TARDIS. He just left it behind…wherever he went.'

'The TARDIS,' the Doctor said.

'Yes. Which is why I don't understand _how_ you can be here. I mean presumably you left somehow, went back to that time and picked Rose up and then started travelling again but there's no record of you having a _spare_ timeship anywhere and-'

'The _TARDIS_? Big blue boxey type thing?' He indicated. 'Sort of like that one over there?'

Freyja turned around and her jaw dropped.

'That's- that's _impossible_! I saw it in the museum just before I left…there's no way…even _you_ would have tripped every alarm in the Institute…'

Rose gaped at her, then changed tack and gaped at the Doctor instead.

'Museum? Left the TARDIS? What-'

'I think we might have to forego the Olympics, Rose,' he said sombrely.

'I'm with you on that one.' She grimaced and then went into what Mickey called her default Mum Mode. 'Shall I go and put the kettle on?'

'Yeah…a cup of tea might be just the thing.' To Freyja the Doctor added, 'This info-cording mission thing of yours-'

'Olympic build-up,' she said. 'I'd just finished when you- er- knocked.'

'Right. Well, let's go in out of the…fairly pleasant weather, actually, and have a chat. I smell a big, fat, baffling mystery and if there's one thing I _love_ it's a big, fat, baffling mystery although usually I prefer it if they don't involve me as a direct protagonist…'

'Go in?' Freyja boggled at him. 'You mean-'

'Oh, god, don't have another fangirl moment.' He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the TARDIS without further comment, opening the door and unceremoniously throwing her inside. Rose followed him in, trying not to giggle, and shut the door behind her. Freyja looked as though all her birthdays and Christmases had come early and at once.

'_This_…' she turned slowly in a circle, drinking in the view '…oh my _god_…this is…this is in_credible_!'

'Yeah.' The Doctor grinned at her.

'It really _is_ bigger on the inside! It's _enormous_! Matter compression into a self-contained mag-flux field oscillating permanently between normal and L-type space! _Wow_!'

'What was that she just said?' Rose muttered.

'Bigger on the inside than the outside!' the Doctor seemed delighted with Freyja's rapid little speech. 'Dead on! You _have_ done your homework!'

'I don't _believe_ this!' Freyja spun in a delighted circle, arms outspread. 'I can't believe I'm really standing in the _TARDIS_! The last time and relative dimensions in space machine in the universe! The lair of the Oncoming Storm himself!'

'Oh really?' The Doctor was attempting to be nonchalant and not making a very good job of it. 'You- er- you call me that?'

'Well if it's good enough for the Daleks…'

'You're enjoying this,' Rose said to him quietly.

'Well…maybe a bit,' he admitted with a smaller, more sheepish grin.

'And since when has this place been your _lair_?'

'Apparently since I got graduated to superhero status.'

'And _Rose Tyler_-' Freyja whirled on her admiringly. 'The Last Companion. The only human to ever look directly into a time vortex…the _heart_ of the TARDIS…'

'Yeah, well…' Rose started to absently straighten her hair, then realised she was doing it and stopped.

'Now who's enjoying it?' the Doctor said to her in an undertone.

'Shut up.'

Freyja was now admiring the control column.

'I never even _dreamed_ it would look like this…it seems so…'

'Junky?' Rose suggested.

'Oi!' the Doctor put in. 'That's incredibly complex and sophisticated technology, that is!'

'You got to admit though, it does look a bit…jury-rigged. All pipes and wires and random buttons and stuff.'

'And _post-its_!' Freyja was practically orgasmic over this detail. 'You work out the vortex flux parameters on _post-its_!'

'Well they're…sticky…' the Doctor mumbled '…they…stick to things…look,' he added, 'Can we get back to the me disappearing mystery?'

'You mean you don't remember?' Freyja thought about this for a moment. 'Well no, you wouldn't. I mean, from your point of view you didn't, so…but I still don't see how _this_ can be here. Isn't there only supposed to be one TARDIS? Existing independently of the usual space-time parameters?'

'Yes, there is.' The Doctor folded his arms. 'Tell me how I supposedly vanished.'

'I did. You took Rose home, and then the next morning you were gone, but the TARDIS was still there.'

'That's not the story. That's the summary. I need details.' He leaned over the railing. 'Tell me everything you know. Then I want to hear some of these far-fetched theories of yours.'

'You _do_?'

He raised his eyebrows and she subsided.

'Oh. Well…the story goes that the Doctor- that is, you-'

'Use third person past tense or we'll never get anywhere.'

'Oh. Okay. Well the Doctor took Rose-' nodding to her '-home, back to the Powell Estate in London on Earth in the year 2007. April the twenty-seventh. Friday.'

'April the twenty-seventh's my birthday,' Rose said. The Doctor nodded and gestured for Freyja to go on.

'According to the stories, there was a party. They stayed up all night. But then when Rose and her family woke up, the Doctor was gone. The TARDIS was still there but it was sealed. Nobody could open it. Nobody's been able to get inside since. The only other thing he left was his coat, lying on the chair where he'd been sitting.'

'What, this coat?' Rose said, indicating the brown trencher the Doctor was currently wearing.

'Yes. It's in the museum, vacuum-preserved, right next to the TARDIS. The Institute took it away a few days afterwards…but even now we can't open it.' Freyja sighed and looked at the Doctor wistfully. 'The official line is that you died. You took Rose home, your work was complete, so you died. But I never believed it,' she added vehemently. 'Even when I was a little girl I never believed it.'

'Why not?' he asked thoughtfully.

'Well…what kind of a universe is it for a little girl when heroes can die?'

'Not then. Now. I bet one of those _far-fetched theories_ of yours was about my so-called demise. Let's hear it.' In one of the clandestine moves he was capable of when he put his mind to it, he'd backed Freyja up against the one wide chair in the room. She sat down on it with a bump. 'Come on then.'

'I- uh-' Freyja looked at Rose, who nodded encouragingly, and then back at the Doctor. 'In the past few hundred years the Institute has managed to detect…energy, coming from the TARDIS. Electromagnetic fluctuations. L-fields. Like it's still _alive_ in there.'

'Right…'

'But there's pretty concrete evidence to suggest that the Doctor and the TARDIS are irrevocably linked. You can't have one without the other. Like…like the telepathy field failing during a regeneration cycle, or the fact that the Doctor is the only one who can actually _fly_ the TARDIS. Well, under normal circumstances,' she amended hastily with a glance at Rose.

'Go on,' the Doctor said, a shadow of a smile flitting across his face.

'Whenever the Doctor malfunctions- so to speak- the TARDIS malfunctions.'

'And so…?'

'If the Doctor was dead, the TARDIS would be dead too.'

'_Yes_!' He punched the air and did a little spin, then wagged a finger at her. '_You_! You are so _smart_! You figured that out from a bunch of stories and an old coat? You're _brilliant_! God, the _brain_ on you- and this is me talking here. Oh no, don't blush-' she'd gone bright crimson '-I mean it. You're _super_ is what you are. _Fantastic_ mind.' He leaned down to peer into her face. 'Cor, I wouldn't half like to get inside your head. Bet it's all neat lines and columns joining things up.'

'Don't worry,' Rose said when Freyja gave her a startled look. 'He does that.'

'Yes, you told me but-'

'However,' the Doctor said, cutting her off, 'There is one last leap of genius missing from this tidy little rundown of yours, Freyja.' He stepped back and folded his arms. 'If I'm not dead, where in the universe _am_ I?'

'Well…_here_. Which doesn't make any sense. The TARDIS was still in the museum when I left. If it had just _vanished_ then everyone on assignment would have been called back to investigate. And why would you take Rose home only to go back in time and pick her up again?'

'All excellent points.' He frowned.

'So what _did_ happen?'

'No idea. None of this makes any sense. I _hate_ it when things don't make sense.' He started to pace, hands in his pockets. 'One Time Lord, one TARDIS. You hit that dead on. So if the TARDIS you've got in your museum is still alive and emitting energy readings, then the Time Lord who owns it is still alive. But I'm the only Time Lord left. Ergo, I'm still alive. Well, that's a relief. But then if the me who's connected to that TARDIS is alive, why is the me connected to _this_ TARDIS even having this conversation?'

'Uh…what?' Rose said, now completely confused. He gestured wildly.

'The whole point of having a TARDIS instead of some mechanical gubbins-filled timeship is that a TARDIS isolates its passengers from conventional cause and effect, allowing them to move through time without running the risk of meeting themselves on an earlier journey and causing a mess in causality.'

'Meaning...?'

'We've just come from 1879, Victorian England. Theoretically, in a TARDIS, once we left there we could have gone straight from the vortex back into the same place, the same time, and still not run into ourselves. The history of the events we took part in would just reset every time until we left the vortex at a _different_ set of temporal co-ordinates.'

'But what about the time with-' Rose swallowed '-I mean, when we saw my dad and then went _back_ and saw ourselves-'

'That was a paradox,' he reminded her pointedly.

'Oh.' She frowned. 'That's why once we're involved in something we can't use the TARDIS to move around?'

'_Exactly_.' He slammed both hands on the panel and glared at the buttons underneath. 'But something's gone wrong…very, very wrong.' Looking up at Freyja again, his brows creased. ' You're from the year seventeen billion-ish, right? When was the latest confirmed sighting of me, temporally speaking?'

'Five billion and twenty-three,' she said promptly. 'New Earth. Sisterhood of Plenitude's hospital outside New New York.'

'And the last sighting working on the TARDIS as a temporal line base?'

'2007, the Powell Estate.'

'Dropping off Rose at her mum's on her birthday before disappearing into the blue beyond,' he muttered. 'This is _wrong_. This is so wrong it's as wrong as a wrong thing can possibly be.'

'What's going on?' Rose asked him.

'A paradox. Nasty one. Two TARDISes. Past and present versions of me. There should only be one version of me, no matter _when_ anyone goes. A _paradox_,' he repeated at her blank look. 'Like the thing with your dad. You know the sort of thing…go back in time and kill your mother, which means you were never born which means you could never have gone back in time to kill your mother which means you _were_ born…'

'All right! All right, I get it.' Rose grimaced. 'God, that makes my head hurt just thinking about it.'

'The thing is, technically _I_ should be able to,' the Doctor went on. 'In all theoretical circumstances a I could go back in time and kill my own mother- if I felt so inclined, and if I had one to kill- then return to my present and not be affected. That's what being a Time Lord is all about. Isolation from conventional cause and effect.'

'You didn't have a mother?' Rose echoed, a trifle surprised at this although she felt like an idiot the moment the words left her mouth. He shot her a disdainful look.

'_Rose_, now is really not the time.'

'Sorry.'

'There's only one thing for it…I need to find this _other_ TARDIS and figure out what the hell happened.' He straightened and turned to Freyja. 'I need you to show me where this museum of yours is.'

'No!' she said, a little too quickly. 'You can't go to the Institute. It's too dangerous.'

'It'll be even more dangerous if this extremely messy and acutely embarrassing temporal paradox is allowed to carry on unchecked,' he snapped.

'I don't mean the paradox.' She gestured helplessly. 'The Institute isn't exactly…well, unified. There are certain…factions whose methods differ from those widely accepted. If you were to just walk in they'd trank you, lay you out and have your brain and most of the rest of you spread flat on a dissection table before you knew what they were doing.'

'Ah. Again with the dissecting.' He wrinkled his nose. 'My innards _really_ aren't all that interesting.'

'It's not your innards they care about.' Freyja looked uncomfortable. 'It's how you regenerate.'

'_Eh_?'

'Even in my time, humans are still mortals. Lifespans are greatly elongated…the average now is maybe three hundred years, but we still get old and we still _die_. And there are some people who don't think of the Doctor as a repository of knowledge or a hero or anything else except a shortcut to the fountain of youth!' She clenched her fists. 'They would rip you apart and tear into your soul and _keep you alive while they did it_ and I am _not_ going to lead you back there and let that happen.'

There was a silence.

'All right, new plan,' the Doctor said finally. 'We'll go in undercover. I've never really liked a fanfare reception-'

'Ten Downing Street,' Rose said, examining her nails.

'-_although_ I indulge occasionally. And being tranquilised and chopped up _really_ diminishes my enthusiasm for the idea.'

'You _can't_ go in undercover,' Freyja said.

'I'll go without the coat, good old psychic paper, nobody'll ever-' he stopped when she stood, pulled something out of her pocket and pressed down on it. Rose's jaw dropped.

'That's- that's us. In the hospital.'

'It's the only visual record we have of both of you together,' Freyja said as the little three-dimensional film clip of the two of them entering the doors of the hospital, chatting amiably, cycled back to repeat itself from the beginning. 'But it's pretty clear. And believe me, Doctor, _everyone_ has seen this. They all _know_ what you look like. We've got image references for all nine of your previous bodies as well, and a lot of your other travelling companions.'

He sank slowly onto the chair.

'Blast. But we _have_ to get in there. Can't leave something like this messing up the nature of causality. Let a little bit slide and the whole universe could start to fall apart.' Scowling, he ran his hands through his hair and then buried his face in them. Freyja edged over to Rose.

'Is he all right?' she whispered.

'He's thinking. S'all right, that's normal.'

'What, thinking, or making that face while he does it?'

'Both! You get used to it after a bit.'

Freyja suddenly pulled back and stared at Rose as though she'd only just noticed her,

'Oh my _god_, I am so stupid- Doctor, there is way to sneak inside the museum without being detected. I'm sorry, I should have thought of it sooner but…'

'How?'

'I'll give you a set of quad-ordinates to land the TARDIS. Stay inside until I come get you. I'll have to dock the usual way and make my report or there'll be trouble.' She glanced about. 'Spare post-its?'

'I've run out.' He rolled up his sleeve and brandished it. 'Got a biro, Rose?'

'Uh, yeah…' she found one in her pocket and a slightly baffled Freyja used it to inscribe a set of complicated-looking symbols on the bare skin of the Doctor's forearm. He examined them for a moment and then nodded.

'Right, gotcha.'

'_Don't_ leave the TARDIS until I come for you. They'd catch you in a nanosecond.'

He nodded acknowledgement as she ran for the door, then turned to start adjusting the controls. Only Rose saw the look Freyja gave him when she paused briefly on the threshold. It was nothing short of absolute, complete adulation…with a hint of fear. Of him, or for him? Rose didn't care overmuch for either.

'Are you sure about this?' she asked once the door was shut. He continued to fiddle with the controls, pausing occasionally to consult his arm.

'Nope. Not even a bit. But I haven't got much option. Paradoxes are what Time Lords are _for_. And if I'm directly involved in this one I must have done something to cause it, which means it's my mess to clear up.' He rolled his sleeve back up and slammed a button, giving her a wolfish grin. 'Here goes nothing.'


	2. Part 2

Title: Heroes and Enemies

Author: Lady Rheena

Rating: T (some violence and non-kiddie friendly stuff)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Evidently. No money. Don't sue. Please.

Notes: I am primarily a TNS Who fan and won't try to convince anyone otherwise. Any muff-ups I therefore make with TOS continuity can just be considered part of the AU definition. The Antecedent Series was written midway through TNS season two, and begins just after the events of _Tooth and Claw_.

**Heroes and Enemies**

**Part 2**

Sitting in the Tardis waiting with a very anxious Doctor rapidly ascended to the top of Rose's list of Least Fun Ways To Pass The Time. He paced, fidgeted, grumbled under his breath, got up, sat down, tapped his feet, hummed and was generally the very antithesis of patience. So she was more than relieved when there was a knock at the door which opened to admit Freyja.

'Sorry I took so long. They insisted on debriefing me _right now_. The coast's clear, I scanned the place as I came in.'

'_The place_ being where exactly?' The Doctor followed her out and blinked. 'Museum?' Then he broke into a grin. 'You gave me the quad-ordinates to land right in the museum itself!' The look he shot her was frankly admiring. 'You _are_ a smarty-pants, aren't you?'

Rose barely noticed the exchange, staring delightedly at the nearest 'artefact.' It was an iPod, complete with headphones. Next to it was a Playstation and beyond that a desktop computer.

'Here, Doctor, look at this stuff!'

'Well preserved,' he said casually. 'Considering the age. Or are these temporal foray souvenirs?'

'Contemporary sampling,' Freyja said. 'Come on, it's through here.' She led them through a small archway and immediately Rose felt her jaw drop.

'Oh…_wow_.'

'Crikey,' the Doctor said. 'Talk about an ego-boost. Hey, there it is!' He jumped up onto a platform to examine the coat, an exact replica of the one he was wearing, imprisoned behind some kind of transparent film.

'It's the same,' Rose said breathlessly.

'It's the same _coat_, that's why. In fact-' he squinted '-the sonic screwdriver's still in the pocket.'

'But that's crazy, you never go anywhere without that.'

'Hmm.' He glanced around and then broke into a grin. 'K-9! _Wow_, where did you find this old fella?'

'What the heck is it?' Rose asked.

'Robotic canine substitute,' Freyja supplied while the Doctor cooed over the inanimate tin box. It looked like something out of a 50s sci-fi B movie. 'Fully functional analyser, tactical support and mechanical companion. Technically from the year 5000, although this particular one was left to the Institute in a will.'

'A will?' the Doctor said, frowning. 'Whose?'

'A Sarah-Jane Smith. From your time period, Rose.'

'Don't know her.'

'Old friend of mine,' the Doctor said, looking suddenly distant. He gave the metallic head a pat and moved on. 'What on earth- or off the earth- is that?'

'A control circuit box. Personality imprint. Hold on, I need to activate it so we've got someone to watch the door.'

'Personality imprint? Whose personality?'

Freyja tapped a few commands in. A mechanical voice said _ready_. She took a breath and glanced at Rose.

'Activate holomatrix.'

A bluish, semitransparent humanoid shape shimmered into existence in the middle of the room. It flickered for a moment and then stabilised. Rose took one look at it, gave a small scream and backed towards the Doctor in shock. He reached for her hand and she squeezed it frantically, wanting to look away but at the same time mesmerised. It was…_her_. She was dressed as she had been in the hospital on New Earth, but aside from being bluish and a bit transparent the image was _identical_…

'_I wish people wouldn't keep turning me off_,' the image said, and the voice was a perfect replica of Rose's own as well. '_Makes it a right pain trying to keep track of the time of day, let alone what month it is. Oh, hi there Freyja. Should've known it'd be you. Back from the Olympics already, eh_?'

'Hello Rose,' Freyja said, not the least bit perturbed. 'I thought Cal was going to install that timewatch sub-program so you didn't forget when you were when you're turned off?'

'_Oh yeah, he keeps SAYING he will but you know what he's like. Who's this, visitors_? _You know what I'm like for new people_-' then the hologram stopped short, and her jaw dropped slightly, eyes going wide. '_Oh my god…Doctor_?'

'It's him, Rose,' Freyja said. 'And- er- you.'

'_Me_!' The hologram glared at the real Rose for a moment but then the glittering eyes returned to the Doctor. '_Oh god…Doctor. I knew they were wrong. I knew you weren't dead. I knew it_…'

'How?' Rose whispered. 'How…what _is_ that?'

'She's a physical extrapolation hologram with your personality matrix downloaded into her,' Freyja said. 'The other Rose Tyler went to work for Torchwood- what the Institute used to be- after the Doctor disappeared. Just before she died they…forcibly extracted her memories and electronically stored them. This is a copy. But really we…' a small blush '…we think of her as real.'

'Forcibly?' the Doctor said, and walked slowly all the way around the figure. 'You mean they _stole_ your mind?'

'_I was pretty much done with it_,' holo-Rose said. '_All grey hair and wrinkles. Two kids grown up, half a dozen grandkids. I was ready to move on. Torchwood had other ideas_.'

'Torchwood?'

'_After Torchwood House, remember? Good old Queen Vic. She formed the Torchwood Institute to investigate the paranormal. The Institute here is its successor. They wanted a copy of your brain patterns but with you gone…I guess they thought I'd be the next best thing. There I am lying in bed ready to walk towards the light, I close my eyes, the next thing I know I'm standing here in noncorporeal matrix form looking seventy years younger and being told I'm a museum exhibit._' She gave a sad little smile. '_Then they told me you were dead…but I knew they were wrong_.'

'Yes, Rose, and you told the Director of the time to get bent!' Freyja said with a small laugh of clear affection.

'_Well, he deserved it_,' the hologram said with great dignity. '_Spreading malicious rumours about MY Doctor_.'

'My god,' Rose said. 'You really are…_me_?'

'_Afraid so. You in seventy years time, technically, but it's much the same thing. I didn't change that much_!'

'Rose, can you watch the door?' Freyja said. 'I don't want any of those radicals catching the Doctor here and…well…'

'_Have been for the past five minutes, Freyja. Nobody's dissecting him on MY watch_.' She- Rose decided the hologram deserved that- gestured to the far end of the room. '_I s'pose that's what you came for, right? About time, too_!'

'Ah.' The Doctor slowly walked towards it. There was a plinth, fairly simple but very imposing, with a small placard in front of it. Sitting on the plinth was the Tardis. Rose gaped at it and then, to be sure, jogged back through the archway. The Tardis was still there, too, where they'd parked it.

'The other one's still there, Doctor,' she said, coming to stand by Freyja. 'There's two of them.'

'I know,' he murmured. 'I can feel it. It's still alive.' Stepping up onto the plinth, he reached out to lay one hand flat on the doors. 'Now what are you doing here, old girl?'

'Are you going to open it?' Freyja asked.

'Open it?' He glanced back. 'Oh, no. Definitely not. No idea what's in there. Don't want to risk it. Got to be careful with Tardises. Let one get out of control and it could end existence as we know it. The universe might implode.'

'So…what're you going to do?' Rose asked.

'Get this one out of here to someplace safe.'

'How are you going to move it? Surely you can't fit that one inside the other one!'

'No, I'll have to be a bit more creative than that.'

'Temporal fold?' Freyja suggested. 'Combined with a teleporter that could do the trick, although she won't shift very far.'

'She will if I loop in the other Tardis to give her directions,' the Doctor said. 'Sort of remote control…still need an L-field generator though, and some other bits and bobs.'

'I can get help. Others. Like me. The others who were in my graduating class. We all know each other inside out. They're safe.'

'A few extra pairs of hands might come in…handy.' The Doctor scratched idly at one ear. 'As soon as would be g-' he stopped when Freyja pulled out some kind of ultra-small mobile phone and turned away to speak into it. 'Right then. No problems. Reinforcements.'

'More _groupies_,' Rose said to him.

'Shut up.'

'They're en route,' Freyja said, turning back. 'But I don't know how much time we have. People are always popping in and out of here…'

'_Hang on_,' holo-Rose said. '_I'm halfway through hacking the mainframe subsystems. Should be able to contrive something along the lines of a 'closed for refurbishment' notice in the lift shaft._'

'You're…hacking the computer?' Rose said to her.

'_In a sense I AM the computer. They tied me into the main memory banks before they activated me. Hierarchy still doesn't know I can sneak into other bits as well. One second…_' she looked like she was concentrating hard '…_right, got it. The gang's in the lift, Freyja. Young William's about to explode_.'

'Nothing new there, then.'

'_William_?' Rose echoed. 'That's not a very…year seventeen billion type name, is it?'

'_His parents were traditionalists, the poor boy_,' holo-Rose told her. '_Here they come._'

The five humans who bundled through the door were all dressed similarly to Freyja in all-black suits with maroon jackets, and looked to be of a similar age. One of the three men advanced on Freyja and looked about to harangue her for something. She promptly gestured to Rose and the Doctor and his jaw dropped, any half-formed sentences dying on his lips. There was a long pause while all the others moved into an appropriate level of being flabbergasted. It was the taller of the two women who spoke first.

'Holy snarkblasting _fardles_, Freyja! Are you _kidding_?'

'She kids you not,' the Doctor said, sticking his hands into his pockets.

'Oh my _god_!' one of the young men, who had deep chocolate eyes and shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail, looked as though he was going to faint. 'It really is _you_, isn't it? And-' his gaze slid to Rose and turned, if it was possible, even more effusive '-_Rose Tyler_!'

'_Don't mind Cal_, _Rose_,' her holographic counterpart said. '_He wrote his graduating paper on us._'

'You did?' Rose exclaimed, taken aback and at the same time extremely flattered, because Cal's gaze on her had turned towards the less platonic side of admiring.

'Sorry,' Freyja said. 'You two _are_ living legends…this is Will,' she added, indicating the strawberry-blonde who'd been about to address her, 'Cal's the Rose fan, Boz-' who was coffee-skinned and had not a single hair on his head. He started forwards breathlessly and extended one slightly wobbling hand to the Doctor.

'C-can I shake your hand, sir?'

A trifle unsettled at being addressed as _sir_, the Doctor let him, which elicited a breathless mutter of thanks. The shorter woman immediately pressed forward to do the same, pumping his arm up and down so vigorously Rose thought she would take it off.

'Hi, I'm Nat!' She was blushing furiously and grinning wide enough for her face to split in half.

'And I'm Asha,' the other woman added.

'Hullo Nat. Hullo Asha.' The Doctor was unflappable.

'Oh my god!' Nat even did a little squeal that made Rose violently embarrassed on her behalf, and leaned over to whisper in Asha's ear. 'I didn't think he'd be so _cute_ in person!'

'_Yes, yes, he's a big fluffy bundle of kittenlike cuteness_,' holo-Rose said, sounding remarkably like Jackie Tyler. '_But if you're QUITE finished dribbling over him, ladies, could you get back into professional mode please_? _And you're not helping_!' she added to the Doctor when he flashed Nat a knowing grin and a wink.

'We'll behave,' Will said with a short laugh. 'What's going on? How did you _get_ here without the Tardis?' he asked the Doctor.

'We got here _with_ the Tardis,' the Doctor said. 'That's kind of the problem.'

'But it hasn't moved,' Asha protested. 'If it had then every alarm in the place would have gone off.'

'No, it hasn't,' he replied calmly. 'Check the other room.'

This caused considerable consternation.

'_Two_?' Will exclaimed. 'But everything we know about the Tardis indicates that it exists outside normal cause and effect, isolated in-'

'Space-time for the express _reason_ that it can't run into itself,' the Doctor finished. 'That's the whole _point_, dummy.'

'We need to build a temporal fold with a combined blink displacers to get _this_ one-' Freyja jerked her thumb at the Tardis on the podium '-out of here to someplace safer so the Doctor can give it a proper examination and work out what's going on.'

'You'll need a portable L-field generator for that,' Will said. 'They take two to carry.'

'You'n me, mate,' Cal told him. 'There's always a few lying about on Cargo.'

'Temporal de-couplers,' Nat said. 'Oh, and an energy source…'

'A fusion core would do for only one jump,' Asha put in.

'Yeah, but for a fold _and_ a blink-'

'-quantum chamber,' Boz finished. 'I'm on it.'

'Blimey, good, aren't they?' the Doctor said to Rose in an undertone.

'I dunno what they're talking about!'

'That's all right. I do.'

'…so that just leaves the harmonic sequencer,' Freyja was saying. 'A small one would do, I think-' she glanced at him for confirmation.

'Point two one,' he supplied, although whether that was one of those flux field effects, a power rating or how many doughnuts it ran on remained a mystery to Rose.

'So a type three'll be fine. I should be able to-'

'No,' Asha said suddenly. 'You go with Nat and get the de-couplers. I did my internship up there, so they won't give me as much gip about requisitioning one.'

'We'll be back as soon as we can,' Freyja called as the little group set off for the main doors. '_Don't_ leave the museum! Rose, watch the door.'

'_Will do_.'

'Well!' The Doctor grinned at hologram and human. 'I could get to like having minions. Saves a lot of running around.'

'_Insufferable as always_,' holo-Rose said to him, rolling her eyes.

'Would you have me any other way?'

'_Never_!'

'Right! Rose- corporeal Rose, that is- start getting rid of all that display rubbish, we'll need the space. I've got to rustle up a few spare parts if this is going to work.' And he raced off to the other Tardis with his usual manic energy. Sighing, Rose crossed to the other Tardis and started moving the velvet ropes and other accoutrements out of the way.

'A museum in the year seventeen billion and they still have velvet ropes,' she said. 'Who'd have thought it, eh?'

'_Another of those funny little touches_,' her holographic counterpart agreed. '_And tour guides_!'

'Yeah…' Rose glanced at her. 'You said these Torchwood people stole your- _my_- brain?'

'_I wouldn't dwell on it_. _If there's a paradox going on, by the time HE'S finished none of this will probably ever have actually happened_.'

'And those kids and grandkids-'

'_Don't ask. I won't tell_.'

They suspended the discussion as the Doctor re-entered the room with his arms full of- Rose tried to attach a sensible label but the best she could do was _stuff_- and promptly started draping bits of wire and tubing all over and around the other Tardis, securing it in place with what looked suspiciously like duct tape.

'Here Rose, gimme a hand with the other end of this would you?'

They were halfway done taping something bright orange that wobbled to the front when the others started arriving back. The Doctor shot orders left and right and in short order the equipment was set up in what looked to Rose like a complete jumble of cables and funny glowing lights.

'Where's Asha?' Will asked. 'It won't work without the sequencer. I thought she said it wouldn't take that long to get it?'

'So did I-' but as Freyja spoke Asha appeared through the archway, looking puffed.

'Sorry guys. Eejits upstairs were a little less susceptible to charm than I thought.'

'Never mind,' the Doctor said, making some adjustments to the shoebox-sized whatever-it-was she'd carried in. 'Ah-ha! Now we're in business.' Several components made powering-up noises. 'Now, if I can just get the-'

'_We've got incoming_!' holo-Rose shouted. '_Asha, were you followed_?'

'No, I took the service routes!'

'_Well someone's onto us. Six armed squaddies swooping in fast_! _Whatever you're going to do, Doctor, you'd better make it quick_!'

'Freyja!' He tossed her the sonic screwdriver. 'Take this and seal the doors. Setting fifty-nine!'

'How are _we_ going to get out?' Nat demanded.

'In the Tardis of course. The other one.'

'But surely we won't _fit_-'

'Bigger on the inside, dunderhead!' Cal shouted at her. 'Did you pay _any_ attention in class?'

Freyja came running back just as there was an explosion. She whirled.

'I did seal the door-'

'_It's not blast proof_,' holo-Rose said. '_They're in_!'

'They can't be in! I'm not ready!' The Doctor was frantically reconnecting wires. 'Just two minutes-'

'You don't _have_ two minutes!' Will yelled at him, grabbing one arm and physically yanking him away. 'If they catch you-'

'_Bluecoats_!' holo-Rose warned.

'Crap!' Freyja pulled a pistol out of one of her pockets and fired off a few shots. 'Try to hack into the security net! There's got to be _someone_ in the barracks who isn't an idiot revolutionary!'

'_No time_! _Run_! _Just take the Doctor and RUN!_' Several wall panels flew open. '_Serviceways_! _GO_!'

'Come on!' Cal grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her into the nearest tunnel, Freyja on his heels. The panel slid shut behind them.

'Doctor!' Rose tried to get away from them.

'The others'll look after him,' Freyja barked. 'Move it!'

The passage soon narrowed to crawling space only and then went dark. Rose groped ahead of her and found Cal's hand.

'S'all right,' he whispered. A light suddenly came on; he had some kind of miniature torch affixed to the front of his jacket, as did Freyja. She was putting some kind of headset over her ear and speaking into it in hushed, urgent tones.

'Anyone?' She frowned.

'_Freyja? That you, buddy_?' Will's voice sounded tinny over the miniscule speaker.

'Will, where are you?'

'_East at four. Nat's north at ten but her transmitter's giving her gyp. I think they've got a dampening field up_.'

'What about the Doctor?' Rose hissed.

'Shush-' Freyja cocked her head '-Asha? Is Boz with you?'

'_Yeah, we grabbed the Doc and bolted. He's pissed with us but he's okay._' There were some scrabbling noises. '_Is Rose all right_?'

'She's with us and she's fine. Where are you?' There was some static. 'Asha? _Asha_? Copy?' Freyja's eyes widened in panic. 'Fardles. Will?'

'_I just lost her signal too, Freyja._'

'_Nothing_.' Nat's voice was crackly as well as tinny. '_Does anyone have a location_?'

'_FREYJA_!' That was Boz's voice, in a yell that made Rose blink and Freyja wince at the sudden assault on her ear.

'Boz? Where are you?'

'_South at five_! _You gotta get down here! We need help_! _There's bluecoats_-' a funny ping-pinging sound momentarily cut him off '-_oh my god, Freyja, get down here quick_! _NO_!' More ping-pinging and then a distant scream. It didn't sound like Asha and Rose's throat went dry. She grabbed Cal's arm convulsively. '_They got him! Oh my god! They got the_-' there was another, louder ping-ping and then silence.

'Boz?' Freyja had gone deathly pale. '_Boz_?'

'What happened?' Rose asked, trembling all over. 'Are they okay?'

'I don't know.' For a moment she seemed completely lost but then turned businesslike. 'Cal, get her out of here. Will, Nat, get your asses down there and meet me.'

'What?' Rose looked at Cal wildly. 'Out of here? What about the D-'

'Where shall I take her?' Cal exclaimed.

'London, you fardling idiot! Earth, 2006! _Go_!'

'_No_!' Rose struggled but Cal was a lot stronger than her. 'If the Doctor's in trouble-'

'If the Doctor were _here_ he'd tell you to do the same thing!' Freyja scooted around her and shot off down the passage at a rapid marine-like crawl. Cal grabbed Rose by the shoulders and shook her hard.

'Listen to me! If the Doctor's in trouble he'll do better getting out of it knowing you're safe. Don't think I won't trank you, Rose Tyler, because I will!'

'You'll what me?'

'Tranquilise you! Knock you out! I'll carry you on my _back_ to London, Earth, 2006 if you won't shut up and come willingly. Understand?'

'Then I guess you'll _bloody well_ have to, won't you?' Rose dodged past him and set off in the direction Freyja had gone. She hadn't got very far, however, when there was a sharp jab in the back of her thigh and a rapid numbness spread over her legs. '_Oi_…' but within seconds blackness overtook her and she couldn't argue any further.


	3. Part 3

Title: Heroes and Enemies

Author: Lady Rheena

Rating: T (some violence and non-kiddie friendly stuff)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Evidently. No money. Don't sue. Please.

Notes: I am primarily a TNS Who fan and won't try to convince anyone otherwise. Any muff-ups I therefore make with TOS continuity can just be considered part of the AU definition. The Antecedent Series was written midway through TNS season two, and begins just after the events of _Tooth and Claw_.

**Heroes and Enemies**

**Part 3**

The fifth junction at the southside of the Station was more or less deserted by the time Freyja got there. She spotted a movement and pulled out her sidearm, then hurriedly holstered it and ran to Boz's side, turning him over. She had to look away, gulping back nausea, because there were at least a dozen laser burns on his chest.

'Freyja-' he croaked '-the Doctor-'

She grabbed his hand frantically.

'What? Boz, what happened?'

'The- they- the Doctor…' his eyes rolled back in his head.

'What? _What_?' Freyja cried, her eyes filling with tears. She laid him back down as gently as she could although he was long past appreciating it.

'Freyja…' Asha's voice made her spin and she hastened to her other friend's side. Asha was in little better condition than Boz, scorch marks all over her face and her hands wrecked where she must have ended up grappling hand-to-hand with the bluecoat soldiers. 'I tried to stop 'em, Freyja, I did-' she coughed, and blood spattered on the floor grating.

'Oh my god.' Freyja felt the blood drain from her face. 'The Doctor.'

'They didn't take him, Freyja!' Asha shook her head despite how much it clearly pained her. 'Oh my god, they didn't take him…'

'What? What did they do? _Asha, what did they do_?'

'They…they _shot him_, Freyja, right there…' one bloodied hand gestured feebly '…god, they shot him so many times…then they just dragged him off…I…I thought they wanted him alive…'

'A body's easier to study when it doesn't try to fight back,' Freyja whispered numbly.

'No…oh _god_, Freyja…' Asha gave a violent convulsion and was suddenly still. Laying her down, Freyja closed her eyes and stood up, casting about the scene. Maybe Asha had been mistaken. Maybe the bluecoats had used trank guns like they'd supposed-

Then she spotted the coat, or what was left of it. The magnificent brown trencher was filled with charred holes, front and back, a sure sign of heavy laser fire. Tears clouded her vision and she impatiently wiped them away. There was some blood on it too…human or Time Lord was impossible to tell, but clearly the Doctor had fought back with his bare hands against his assailants.

'Freyja? Frey- _oh my god_.' Will's voice made her turn to see him and Nat standing there, open-mouthed. 'What…happened here?'

'They killed them,' Freyja said, clenching the tattered remains of the coat in one fist and feeling rage, red-hot and boiling fury, slowly but inexorably begin to replace sorrow. 'They killed Boz, and they killed Asha, and they killed _him_ and then _boxed_ him for whatever grotesque dissection they call scientific inquiry…' her nails dug into one fist so hard they drew blood but she ignored the pain. Welcomed it, even.

'They _killed_ him?' Nat echoed. 'They…killed the Doctor?'

Will took the coat and held it up, swallowing hard.

'Even a Time Lord couldn't regenerate from that amount of damage, Nat. Even-' he stopped, unable to go on, and lifted his gaze to Freyja's face. 'What now?'

'Rose.'

'What?'

'London, 2006. Cal took her home. She needs to know.'

'It'll destroy her!' Nat exclaimed.

'She _deserves_ to know.' Freyja took the coat back from Will. 'So we tell her.'

'And then?'

'And then…' she glanced at the bodies and thoughtfully extracted the sonic screwdriver from her pocket, where she'd kept it since the Doctor had given it to her to seal the door '…then we find out who did this. And we make them _pay_ for it.'

Somewhere in London in the late twenty-first century a golden-haired girl was given a bloodied, scorched trenchcoat and fell to her knees with a scream that shook the roots of the universe.

Somewhere in the year two hundred thousand, a blue-eyed man rolled out from beneath a half-repaired spaceship and cocked his head, listening to a summons only he could hear.

Somewhere in the year seventeen billion, six hundred and ninety-four thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three a hologram received a silent message and broke down in invisible tears.

And somewhere between yesterday and eternity, something inside a blue box small enough for a man, but large enough for infinity, waited.

To Be Continued


End file.
